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By Graeme White

There are few more lethal racing combinations at present than that of trainer Todd Smart and jockey Matthew Cahill who will be out to extend their hot streak at Bathurst on Monday.

Smart is having arguably the best run of his seven-year training career with four winners, three seconds, two thirds and a fourth from his past 10 starters.

Cahill has been a champion jockey for decades with hundreds of race winners but even by his lofty standards the month of August 2021, will long be etched in his memory bank. He has already ridden 12 winners this month including the last five races at Narromine on August 15.

The experienced rider will team up with Smart on Monday with last start winner Honeysuckle Choice in the Erins Outdoor Power Centre Class 3 (1100m). Smart said years of planning and buying the right horses had paid off with recent wins by Eurosay, Honeysuckle Choice, Kelvedon Road and Tobermory.

The 38-year-old has been a permanent fixture in the positions allotted for the top four finishes in recent times and he hopes it can continue.

“I will take the wins while they come, but I know in racing you can be on a high one minute and the next you can be back down,” he said. “You take the good days while they last and I’m just pleased to see the horses doing well because you put the processes in place for these types of things to happen.

“Each year I have bought a few horses and they have come through and been able to perform well for us of late.”

It has been one win after another for Smart, while Cahill is accustom to winning multiple races but even his five-win haul a week ago hasn’t happened too often for him in his decorated career.

Smart had a few options in mind for Honeysuckle Choice including at Queanbeyan on Tuesday and Wagga on Thursday, but feels her best chance of winning is making the trip to Bathurst where she has gate one.

“Good barrier draws can cut out a lot of bad luck so when she drew gate one it was the obvious choice,” he suggested. “I could have raced her closer to home, but it’s all about placing your horses where they have the best chance of winning.”

Honeysuckle Choice won her latest start at Moruya at her second start back from a spell and is rated a $5 hope with the NSW TAB behind Rebukes ($3.50). Smart will also have a few starters at both Queanbeyan and Wagga this week as he looks to continue his great start to the new racing season.

If his horses haven’t won during August they have been right in contention and he has high hopes for the future. Many of his horses are owned by syndicates from his hometown of Gundagai, while two Melbourne owners also make up the group that races Honeysuckle Choice.

The six-year-old has only raced 26 times for three wins and nine placings and will be kept to shorter distance races by her trainer to try and enhance her record.

“She seems to be a shorter distance horse of around 1000 metres to 1100 metres,” he said in reference to some of her other starts over slightly longer distances.

Smart is now well established in Canberra with a team of around 13 horses in training all of the time after he commenced his career with a stint in Victoria and later Wagga. The promising Eurosay and Kelvedon Road appear to have the ability to go onto feature race wins and Smart may test the former at the Kensington Track in Sydney on Wednesday.

The winner of two of his past three starts has also drawn gate one in The Federal at the transferred meeting at Queanbeyan on Tuesday.

“I will keep my options open and also accept for Sydney as there is rain forecast for early this week,” he said. “The horses are going great and I put a lot of that down to my staff, trackwork jockeys and riders who do a great job.

“You enjoy the success when it comes your way and I believe there are a few nice horses racing now that we can have some fun with going forward.”

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Bathurst here